And so I guess as parents, our hope is always that our kids. And nobody else has to light a fire under their ass in order to make them do the things that are necessary in order to be successful. Whatever it is that they're either doing or whether it was the schoolwork or somewhere along the lines of clicks and it takes over. And what I find is that with most business people or entrepreneurs, at some point in time in their history something clicks and it becomes something that they're passionate about. And it's interesting to me because I asked that question of everybody that sits in the seat that you're sitting in. I don't think that's a switch somebody else turns on. I think they were probably for me a little too hands-off and if they'd pushed me a little bit more I think maybe I might've found that motivation a little bit easier, but so much in life is internal. I forget what device that was like a kitchen timer. There's a mix between knowing your kids are okay and pushing them and doing a set it and forget it. I think there's a mix and I try to be like this with my kids now.
And I think same thing at school down here. So maybe it was just the challenge, it wasn't challenging you. And like you said, it was really a switch because before that at Eaglebrook arguably a lot easier than it wasn't a Hotchkiss. Then it became more of a challenge to do that again. So on the first semester I made the Dean's list, first semester, and that was my aha moment where I was like, I guess I could do that again. The switch moment came from when I went to Hotchkiss and I was I think maybe the transition from one boarding school to another, and I just got into my classes and the teachers there were unbelievable, college level teachers. And when I went to Eaglebrook I think this was in middle school, made pretty good grades there as well. So when I was down here, I made good grades or grades that were good enough for my parents to leave me alone. I think a lot of things came to me fairly naturally. So it's a degree that pays dividends because it's much harder to get into now than it was. Well I think Princeton wasn't that easy to get into, then it's a lot harder now. And I can imagine what the answer to this is, when you look back at your history in school, would you consider yourself a good student or was there a light bulb moment somewhere where it switched? Because you don't go to Princeton without good grades and stuff like that. Today's his birthday and then Jenny's four years. One's 12, my wife Lauren, that's our boy and then we have six year old Jackson as of today. I've seen the conversation that your father probably wanted to have. Golly! So you went to Princeton and ended up teaching? I think I was doing it to get back at my dad. And so when you were teaching, was that at Princeton or was that. And then worked as a teacher actually for a few years and then came back to help my father in the business. Went to school at Princeton, graduated with a degree in government of all things which perfectly prepares you for selling shoes. They didn't really want me back in Mobile for awhile. We were talking before Deerfield, Massachusetts then followed up with a boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut. It depends on my mother's mood whether she thinks that's funny or not, but went to boarding school in Massachusetts. went off to boarding school, we joked my parents shipped me off. There's some stories there, okay, this might be a longer one folks! I don't know if it was a mix between me and St Paul's or St Paul's and me, but I ended up going off to boarding school. So my Mobile Alabama life took over from there, and went to St Paul's for a few years as did some of my siblings. We moved to Mobile Alabama when I was 10 and that's when my father started Shoe Station. So start, I'm originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
And I do want to get more into Shoe Station and how it got started and stuff like that, but before we do any of that, why don't you introduce yourself by telling us the story of Brent, where are you from? Where'd you go to high school? If here locally, that'd be great and then did you go to college? Are you married? Just give us some of your backstory. And so I think it's amazing that we have you all here as an asset to the local economy and stuff like that. No, I am a fan of Shoe Station because there are very few companies that are located here. Hi, I'm Brent Barkin President and CEO of Shoe Station. Listen in as we discuss his life, career journey, and how he got into retail shoe sales! This week on The Mobile Alabama Business Podcast, we sit down with Brent Barkin with Shoe Station.
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